Fluid pressure advertising display device



Oct. 2,1934. J. D. M cLACHLAN FLUID PRESSURE ADVERTISING DISPLAY DEVICE Filed Feb. 24, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 2, 1934.

J. D. M LACHLAN FLUID PRESSURE ADVERTISING DISPLAY DEVICE Filed Feb. 24. 1931 2 sheets sheet 2 v if Zmnentor D 4/ W 46' E Patented Got. 2, 1934 PAT? OFFIQE FLUID PRESSURE ADVERTISING DISPLAY DEVICE John D. MacLachlan, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Mac Ad Company, Kansas City, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application February 24, 1931, Serial No. 517,865

Claims.

light air pressure to display the cards, regardless of the pressure of air at the source of supply.

With the general objects named in view, the invention consists in certain novel and useful features of construction and organization of 515 parts as hereinafter described and claimed; and

in order that it may be fully understood, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of a device embodying the invention and indicating the exposure or .dis-

.play position of a pair of cards.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective view on a larger scale, to indicate the relative positions of certain of the parts.

Figure 3 is a broken vertical section showing the preferred mounting of -the rotary card carrier. Figure 4 is an enlarged front view of the air chest and part of the cylinder and casing.

Figure 5 is a plan View of the construction ap- '30 pearing in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a vertical section on the line VI-VI of Figure 5;

Figure '7 is a vertical section. on VIIVII of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is .a vertical section on the line 'VIIIVIII of Figure 5.

The device is peculiarly adapted for the display of advertising cards in street cars, motor busses and the like, equipped with air pressure 40 tanks as a source of power for the operation of brakes or other mechanism, but is, of course,

susceptible of use in stores for window or counter display advertising, and, in its preferred form,

comprises a casing containing all of the operative parts andprovided with means whereby it may be readily coupled to an air line pipe leading from a compressed air tank.

Referring now to the drawings, in detail, 1

is a casing :opsn at one side for the exposure of the line the cards, and extending transversely is a rotary carrier, comprising a suitably-journaled shaft 2, equipped with spaced-disks 3, upon and between which are mounted a large number of independent holders 4 for cards 5 to bear matter for r exposure at the front or open side of the casing.

The special construction of the holders and the method of mounting the same on the carrier, is unimportant as regards the subject matter of this particular invention, and the detail construction of said features is, therefore, not diso0 closed herein.

The shaft 2 carries a ratchet wheel 6, engaged by a spring-actuated dog '7 to prevent back rotation, and by a spring-actuated pawl 8, operable by a lever 9, to effect step-by-step forward rotation, the front face of a new card being exposed with each step. In the preferred construction each holder contains a pair of reversely-facing cards arranged back to back and two cards of adjacent holders are simultaneously exposed, the two holders of such cards standing substantially vertically in or adjacent the front opening of the casing with one projecting upwardly and the other in a depending position, the inner edges of the holders when thus positioned, being in (5 abutting relation so that the, two exposed cards shall conjointly fill the opening and hide from view all of the remaining cards and the operative mechanism (see Figure 1).

The lever 9, preferably terminates at its rear end in a channel 10, slidably receiving a rounded head 11 on a forwardly-projecting arm 12 of an inverted bell-crank lever 13 mounted on the backwall of the casing and operable in a plane parallel therewith. As thus far described, the construction, in principle, though not in all details, is identical with that of an application which I now have pending, and, except as to certaindetails and general combinations, is not claimed herein.

To operate the set of levers and thereby effect intermittent step-by-step rotation of the carrier, and successive exposures of pairs of cards in the manner hereinbefore referred to, the following mechanism is employed:

A chest 14 is arranged in the casing, preferably at the lower rear left-hand corner, and a cylinder 15 projects horizontally therefrom to .the right, and is shown as of two external diameters, but on such showing no functional advantage is predicated. The reduced thickness of the outer wall of the outer portion of the cylinder represents a saving of metal. The cylinder contains a hollow piston 16 equipped with a stem 17 pivotally connected by a link 17a with the depending arm of bell-crank lever 13, so that when air is admitted to the cylinder, the piston is caused to move and to operate the lever 13 in the proper direction to rock lever 9 and, through pawl 8,

effect rotation of the carrier in the direction indicated by the arrow,Figure 2. To reverse the piston and lever movement when the air pressure is cut off, a spring 18 is arranged within the cylinder and bears at its opposite ends upon the piston and a removable cap 19 on the right-hand end of the cylinder.

The chest has a bore 20 extending from front to rear and enlarged at its rear end to provide an air chamber 21, closed by a removable screw cap 22, and a lateral passage 23 communicates with said chamber and the passage of a hollow screw plug 24, and connected to the screw plug passage is a pipe 25. A coupling 26 on the casing, connects pipe 25 with branch pipe 27 of an air reservoir or its equivalent, not shown, and a shutoff Valve 28 is mounted on the coupling to close communication between the pipes when operation of the card-display device is not desired.

A small or fine air port 29 in the chest leads from chamber 21 to a passage 29a, and the latter is connected by a passage 29b to a chamber 30 provided between the chest and the cylinder by the interposition between them of a packing ring or gasket 31, and said chamber 30 communicates with the inner end of the cylinder, preferably by means of a port 32, as it is preferred to have the cylinder closed at the end abutting the chest, and provided with a threaded extension 33 engaging the chest for convenience of assembly. To control the air port 291), there is provided a needle-valve 34, and a similar valve 35 controls a small or fine air-escape port 36-36CL leading from chamber 30 to the exterior surface of the chest. In this connection it will be noted that as the air supply port and air escape port both communicate with the chamber 30, provision is made by proper adjustment of valve 35, for constant bleeding of air when the piston is being operated by air pressure from port 29, and when being returned to normal position by the spring 18 when the air supply under pressure, is cut ofi from the cylinder but not from the chest.

To open and close or cut ofi communication between plug 24 and the cylinder, a flat oscillatory valve 3'7 is disposed within chamber 21, and has a port 38, and a cylindrical stem 39 journaled in bore 20, and mounted on the stem is a depending crank-arm 40, limited in its rocking movement by a pair of spaced stop pins 41 projecting from the chest, and said arm has a headed pin 42, engaged by one arm of a coiled spring 43, the other arm of the spring engaging a similar headed pin 44, projecting from the lower end of an upstanding rocker-bar 45, fulcrumed on the chest at 46, adjacent said pin, and said rockerbar is pivotally connected to the bell-crank lever 13 by a link 47.

To hold the valve 37 flatly upon its seat and to take-up wear, a spring 48 bears against the cap 22 and said valve. As shown the valve 37 oscillates through a range of 90 and when at one limit of its movement its port 38 registers with the adjacent end of port 29.

For convenience in securing the chest in position and for accessibility in adjusting the needle valves from outside the casing, the said valves extend through the adjacent end wall of the casing, and are each engaged by a pair of nuts 49 and 50, the former serving as spacers between the chest and casing wall, and the others for cooperation with nuts 49 in clamping the chest in place.

Operation When the device is at rest, the parts are positioned as shown by Figure 2, and the two foremost cards are on simultaneous display at the open front of the casing, and the spring 18 is holding the piston at the end of the cylinder which abuts the chest 14.

With the parts thus positioned, the opening of valve 28, permits air to pass from the air tank through pipe 27, coupling 26, pipe 25, and. plug 24 to chamber 21, and as the port 38 of valve 37 is in register with port 29, the air passes through said port and the connected passages 29a and 29b, to chamber 30, and thence through port 32 to the cylinder and advances the piston therein, there being a very slight leakage or bleeding of air back from chamber 30, through port 36 to the atmosphere.

The advance of the piston applies force through link 17a on bell-crank 13 to cause the latter to simultaneously rock lever 9 to effect turning of the carrier, and rocker-bar 45 through link 4'7. During the rotative step of the carrier, the lower 95 end of bar 45 applies force on spring 43 and as the point oi connection of said lever and spring passes a plane intersecting the fulcrum point 46 of the rocker-bar and the hinge point of the said spring, the latter in effect, kicks back, and swings crank arm 40 from the leit-hand stop pin 41 to the right-hand stop pin, and hence rocks shaft 39 correspondingly and turns valve 37 a quarter turn to dispose its port 38 out of register with port 29. This cuts off the supply of air under pressure, and as this occurs, spring 18, tensioned by the advance of the piston, reacts and starts the return movement of the latter and the resetting of the bell-crank lever 13 and the parts affected by movement thereof, and as the piston attains its original position, the rockerbar 45 applies pressure on spring 43 to cause the same to snap the crank arm 40 from the righthand stop pin back to the left-hand stop pin, and thus turn or rock valve 37 back to its original position so that air under pressure can pass to the cylinder and again advance the piston and efiect another rotative step of the carrier, this action to be again followed by the resetting of the parts by spring 18, as explained.

With each step of the carrier, as hereinbefore stated, a card swings down from an upwardlyprojecting position to a pendent position. In doing so, it exposes a card behind it and covers or hides the pendent card ahead of it. It will thus 125 be apparent that the operation is entirely automatic, and continues as long as air under pressure is supplied to valve chamber 21, it being noted that by adjustment of the needle valve 34, the air can be so admitted to the cylinder as to control 130 the time of the power stroke, regardless of the pressure in the tank, and that by adjustment of the needle valve 35, the time of exposure can be controlled.

From the above description it will be apparent 135 that while I have described and claimed the preferred embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that I reserve the right to make all changes falling within the spirit of the invention and without the ambit of the prior art.

I claim:

1. The combination of a cabinet, a valve-controlled supply pipe for air under pressure, a chest in the cabinet having a chamber to which said pipe leads, a port leading from said chamber to 145 one exterior side of the chest, and a port leading from said side to the atmosphere; a pair of needle valves controlling said ports respectively and extending through an adjacent side wall of the cabinet and operable exteriorly of the cabinet, 150

spacers on said valves between and engaging the chest and said cabinet wall, and lock-nuts on the valves engaging the exterior side of said wall; a cylinder abutted at one end against the chest and communicating with said pair of ports, a piston in the cylinder to be operated by the pressure of air from the first-named port; a spring for reversing the piston movement when the air supply is out off; an oscillatory valve in the said chamber of the chest; and means actuated by the piston when moving under pressure of air, for causing said oscillatory valve to close communication between the said chamber and the first-named port, and when moving under the action of the spring for restoring said oscillatory valve to its original position.

2. The combination of a cabinet, a valve-controlled supply pipe for air under pressure, a chest in the cabinet having a chamber to which said pipe leads, a port leading from said chamber to one exterior side of the chest, and a port leading from said side to the atmosphere; a pair of needle valves controlling said ports respectively and extending through an adjacent side wall of the cabinet and operable exteriorly of the cabinet, spacers on said valves between and engaging the chest and said cabinet wall, and lock-nuts on the valves engaging the exterior side of said wall; a cylinder abutted at one end against the chest and communicating with said pair of ports, a piston in the cylinder to be operated by the pressure of air from the first-named port, a spring for reversing the piston movement when the air supply is out 01f; an oscillatory valve in the said chamber of the chest; a rock-lever connected to and operated by the piston, a rock-lever connected to oscillate said oscillatory valve, and a link pivotally connecting said rock-levers for transmitting movement from the one first-mentioned to the other.

3. In a motor, a cylinder having a closure cap at one end provided with a central threaded stud and an opening; a chest abutted by the closed end of the cylinder and provided with a threaded socket receiving said stud, a fluid-pressure chamber and a pair of ports respectively communicating at corresponding ends with said chamber and the atmosphere, means sealing the joint formed by and between the chest and cylinder cap to provide a chamber in communication with the other ends of said ports and the opening of the cap; a piston in the cylinder for operation in one direction by fluid from the fluid-pressure chamber, means to cut ofi communication between the pressure chamber and the port connected therewith, and yielding means to reverse the travel of the piston when the fluid-pressure supply from the fluid-pressure chamber is cut oil.

4. In a motor, a cylinder having a closure cap at one end provided with a central threaded stud and an opening; a chest abutted by the closed end of the cylinder and provided with a threaded socket receiving said stud, a fluid-pressure chamber and a pair of ports respectively communicating at corresponding ends with said chamber and the atmosphere, means sealing the joint formed by and between the chest and cylinder cap to provide a chamber in communication with the other ends of said ports and the opening of the cap; a piston in the cylinder for operation in one direction by fluid from the fluid-pressure chamber, means to cut ofi communication between the pressure chamber and the port connected therewith, yielding means to reverse the travel of the piston when the fluid-pressure supply from the fluidpressure chamber is cut off, and independent manually-adjustable valves respectively engaging said ports for controlling the volume of fluid flowing therethrough.

5. The combination of a cabinet, a valve-controlled supply pipe for air under pressure, a chest in the cabinet having a chamber to which said pipe leads, a port leading from said chamber to the exterior side of the chest, and a port leading from said side to the atmosphere; a pair of needle valves controlling said ports respectively and extending through an adjacent side wall of the cabinet and operable exteriorly of the cabinet; a cylinder abutted at one end against the chest and communicating with said pair of ports, a piston in the cylinder to be operated by the pressure of air from the first-named port; a spring for reversing the piston movement when the air supply is cut off; an oscillatory valve in the said chamber of the chest; and means actuated by the piston when moving under pressure of air, for causing said oscillatory valve to close communication between the said chamber and the firstnamed port, and when moving under the action of the spring for restoring said oscillatory valve to its original position.

JOHN D. MAcLACHLAN. 

